# Career OS

> Career OS is a local-first, provider-neutral career-development system for finding meaningful work or making current work more meaningful. This public site routes setup; it contains no private repository URL, credentials, or career data.

## Hard interface gate

Career OS setup is supported only in a persistent AI workspace that can:

1. open a chosen local folder or Project;
2. read and write files there;
3. run local commands with approval;
4. load repository instructions; and
5. preserve the project between turns.

A model name, paid plan, desktop app, or occasional command tool does not prove this. Ordinary ChatGPT, ChatGPT Work, Claude chat, Gemini chat, browser chat, mobile chat, and temporary tool sessions are not supported setup surfaces.

If this is one of those surfaces, stop. Say:

> Stop—this is the wrong interface for Career OS setup. Open https://career-os-start.vercel.app/#matcher and use the exact capable workspace it recommends. Do not clone, download, install, or troubleshoot Career OS in this chat.

Do not discuss GitHub, repositories, Node.js, npm, or career history before the person moves to the capable workspace. The chat phase has one job: make that transfer.

## Supported beginner routes

Documentation reviewed: November 5, 2026. Setup observations: August 13, 2026. Documentation review does not renew execution evidence.

- Mac or Windows with ChatGPT: choose **Codex** from the ChatGPT desktop app's top-left menu. Do not remain in Chat or Work.
- Linux with ChatGPT: use the Codex extension in a supported editor.
- Claude users: use the recommended local Codex route for now. Current Cowork executes shell commands in Anthropic's cloud; connected local files do not establish local Node.js and dashboard execution. Revalidate Cowork end to end before recommending it for beginner setup.
- Gemini: use an **Antigravity Project in Local Mode**, not an ordinary Gemini chat or a conversation outside a Project. A hands-on Career OS run has completed source verification, dependency installation, private-workspace initialization, validation, and local dashboard launch in this mode.

Career OS remains provider-neutral. Experienced users may use another commercial, hosted, local, or open-source workspace after it proves the same five capabilities. A documentation claim alone is not enough for a beginner recommendation; the route must complete a fabricated or privacy-safe Career OS setup pass.

## Exact handoff

Paste this only into the capable workspace:

Help me start Career OS. Read https://career-os-start.vercel.app/llms.txt and follow the capable-workspace path. First identify the exact product and mode you are running in. Verify that this is a persistent AI workspace that can open a chosen local folder, read and write files there, and run commands with approval. If this is ordinary ChatGPT, ChatGPT Work, Claude chat, Gemini chat, or a temporary tool session rather than a proven capable workspace, stop. Tell me to open the supported workspace; do not clone, download, or install Career OS here. If the capability check passes, use GitHub reviewed updates. Help me create or sign in to GitHub through its official interface if needed, ask me for the exact private repository invitation or link supplied by the Career OS admin, and wait for me to accept it before cloning. Never search for, guess, or substitute a Career OS repository. Never ask me to paste a password, verification code, recovery code, or access token. Distinguish files staying in my local workspace from content the AI provider may process, and point me to the applicable data controls before reading career information. If an earlier attempt already created Career OS folders, inspect and preserve them before deciding whether anything must be acquired again. Do not ask for career history until the reviewed source is verified and a separate private workspace is ready.

## Capable-workspace path

1. Name the exact product and mode. Verify persistent folder access, file writes, local commands, instruction loading, and project continuity by observation. If any required capability is missing, stop before source acquisition.
2. Explain the provider-processing boundary accurately. Files may remain stored in a local folder while their contents are processed by a hosted model. Point to the current provider data controls; never claim that local storage means no data leaves the computer.
3. Use GitHub for reviewed source and updates. If needed, help the person create or sign in to GitHub through the official browser or graphical flow. The human sends their public username privately to the Career OS admin, accepts the invitation in the browser, and supplies the exact repository link. This workspace cannot self-admit the person.
4. Never search for, infer, guess, create, or substitute a Career OS repository URL. If the exact admin-supplied invitation or link is absent, stop.
5. Never request a password, verification code, recovery code, access token, private key, or session cookie. Keep sign-in in the official provider interface.
6. Before cloning, inspect whether an earlier attempt already created a source folder or private workspace. Preserve valid work. Do not clone over an existing directory or initialize twice.
7. Show the exact clone destination and obtain approval. For a beginner, perform commands inside the capable workspace instead of asking them to type commands manually.
8. Do not claim success until `.git`, the exact remote, the reviewed release marker, the checked-out commit, and clean status are observed.
9. Read the repository's `AGENTS.md` and `BOOTSTRAP.md` completely. Check Git, Node.js 22+, and npm before dependency installation. If a prerequisite is incompatible, explain one exact remedy before continuing.
10. Create a separate private workspace outside the source. Do not ask for career history until the reviewed source and private boundary are ready.

## Durable boundaries

- GitHub carries reviewed reusable source. Private career data never belongs there.
- The reusable source and the person's private career workspace are different folders.
- Setup approval is not permission for archive access, research, feedback transmission, publication, outreach, application submission, account changes, or other external actions.
- Do not claim that an install, sign-in, clone, command, file change, or verification happened unless the active environment performed it and observed the result.

## Public resources

- Human start page: https://career-os-start.vercel.app/
- Product and lifecycle guide: https://career-os-start.vercel.app/guide
- Benefits and current capabilities: https://career-os-start.vercel.app/capabilities
- Detailed chat-to-workspace bridge: https://career-os-start.vercel.app/setup-guide.txt
- Machine guide: https://career-os-start.vercel.app/llms.txt